Friday, April 24, 2015

With Russia developing and promoting its Islamic finance capabilities, would you consider investing in Shariah compliant products in Russia while sanctions are in place?

Friday, 24th April 2015

S&P 500 Shariah
Dow Jones Islamic World
FTSE Shariah All World
Russell - IdealRatings Islamic Global
1,859.19
3,018.80
2,131.18
1,958.32
3.08 ( 0.17%)
8.49 ( 0.28%)
6.89 ( 0.32%)
11.02 ( 0.57%)

HIGHLIGHTS: ICD to structure Sukuk for Ivory Coast – StanChart puts off shuttering Islamic retail operations in Bahrain – Pioneering Malaysian SRI Sukuk gains ‘AAA’ rating



Daily Cover

GLOBAL: There was an incredible show of industry support and commitment from the highest of authorities across some of the biggest and most promising Islamic finance markets this week.

Just yesterday, Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak announced a slew of initiatives and development for the industry, more particularly the Islamic asset management sector. It has been revealed that the Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia is designing a blueprint – to be published by the end of this year – for the Shariah fund and wealth management segment, which will include medium and long-term strategies and recommendations to guide the sector to new heights. The SC will also be introducing new types of licenses for boutique fund managers and will broaden the range of activities for fund management companies. Najib confirmed that sovereign wealth fund, the Employees Provident Fund, will be offering a Shariah compliant investment option by 2017 and as a result, effectively creating the world's largest Islamic fund of its kind. On the socially responsible investment (SRI) front, Malaysia will soon see its very first SRI Sukuk program. Worth up to RM 1 billion (US$274.93 million), the facility will be issued by Ihsan Sukuk with full recourse to Khazanah Nasional, and will be used to finance Shariah compliant SRI projects.

Indonesia too has big Islamic finance plans. At the highly successful IFN Indonesia Forum 2015 this week, the Financial Services Authority or Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) announced that the Republic is in the process of establishing a centralized Islamic financial center similar to the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Center. Dr Mulya E Sirega, the deputy commissioner of banking supervision for the OJK, also revealed that Islamic repos as an instrument are in the cards, while the National Shariah Board recently issued a long-dated Fatwa facilitating Islamic hedging. Declaring 2015 as its Shariah capital year, the Republic’s last several sovereign Sukuk programs have been very well received with the latest one (the 21st April) attracting IDR4.73 trillion (US$361.43 million) in incoming bids out of which IDR2.03 trillion (US$156.12 million) was awarded.

The latest to make headlines is the Ivory Coast who mandated the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector as lead manager to the West African republic’s debut Sukuk program. Worth XOF300 billion (US$490 million), the program will be issued over the 2015-20 period in two equal phases.

In the Middle East, Dubai generated buzz when its crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, gave the green light for a series of measures proposed by the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Center to propel the emirate forward in its journey to become the world's Islamic economy capital. These initiatives include creating another Islamic Economy Index. While in Bahrain, the Bahrain Bourse, which is looking to launch its Bahrain Investment Market at the end of June, is poised to introduce Islamic real estate investment trusts next month, according to Gulf Daily News.

In other noteworthy news: IFN has learned that Kuwait Finance House Malaysia appointed Ahmed Alkharji as CEO and managing director; Gulf Finance House has initiated steps to delist from the London Stock Exchange; Malaysian Re has gained approval to enter the Islamic space via a new re-Takaful unit; while previously embattled Amlak Finance, is making good pace re-anchoring itself in the market as the Islamic mortgage provider not only elected a new board of directors, but also agreed to secure regulatory approval to resume trading.


IFN Global Trendswatch



Trade Finance: An IFN Correspondent Report

The Salam concept of Islamic trade finance
The Shariah concept of Salam was among the six nominated forms of Islamic finance sanctioned for use by Islamic banks under the purview of the Central Bank of Oman in its 2012 Framework document (each of which were set in stone by a new Article 124 of the Banking Law introduced at roughly the same time), the others being Mudarabah, Musharakah, Murabahah, Istisnah and Ijarah.




Today's IFN Alerts

IVORY COAST: Ivory Coast plans Sukuk; Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector to lead manage program

GLOBAL: Standard Chartered to maintain Islamic retail business in Bahrain

NIGERIA: Jaiz Bank collaborates with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria to design SME financing products

MALAYSIA: Malaysian oil and gas service provider seeking re-entry into Shariah compliant list

SOMALIA: Premier Bank to launch Shariah compliant credit cards and install ATMs in Mogadishu

BAHRAIN: Bahrain likely to see fiscal deficit widen to 14% in 2015 with government debt reaching over 70% of GDP by the end of next year, says Moody's

PAKISTAN: Al Meezan Investment maintains lead as Pakistan's largest Islamic asset manager

SINGAPORE: Sabana REIT releases first quarter results; demonstrates enhanced performance

UAE: Sharjah Islamic Bank registers slight decline in first quarter profit to AED106.89 million (US$29.1 million)

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's inaugural SRI Sukuk program secures 'AAA' preliminary rating


















REDmoney events

IFN Qatar Forum 2015
3rd May 2015 (Doha)

IFN Asia Forum 2015
25th-26th May 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

IFN Europe Forum 2015
10th June 2015 (Luxembourg)

IFN Issuers Forum 2015
13th September 2015 (Dubai)

13th September 2015 (Dubai)

IFN Kuwait Forum 2015
5th October 2015 (Kuwait City)

IFN Egypt Forum 2015
27th October 2015 (Cairo)

IFN Turkey Forum 2015
17th November 2015 (Istanbul)

IFN Saudi Arabia Forum 2015
30th November 2015 (Riyadh)


REDmoney training

Funds Transfer Pricing
26th - 28th April 2015 (Dubai)

Structuring Sukuk & Islamic Capital Market Products
26th - 28th April 2015 (Muscat)

Managing Counterparty Credit Risk, Basel III and Recent Regulatory Issues
29th - 30th April 2015 (Dubai)

Managing Counterparty Credit Risk, Basel III and Recent Regulatory Issues
7th - 8th May 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Islamic Treasury & Risk Management Products
10th - 12th May 2015 (Dubai)

Structuring Islamic Trade Finance Solutions
27th - 29th May 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Islamic Financial Products: Current Trends, Regulation & Practices
27th - 28th May 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Understanding & Applying Structured Products
3rd - 5th June 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization
7th - 9th June 2015 (Riyadh)

Funds Transfer Pricing
8th - 10th June 2015 (Istanbul)

Asset Liability Management
9th - 11th June 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

International Best Practices & Regional Standards in Regulation, Corporate Governance, AML, Sanctions & Compliance
10th - 11th June 2015 (Dubai)

Fixed Income Products & Bond Markets
11th - 12th June 2015 (Istanbul)

Accounting & Reporting for Islamic Financial Products
14th - 15th June 2015 (Dubai)

Funds Transfer Pricing
6th - 8th July 2015 (Hong Kong)

Managing Counterparty Credit Risk, Basel III and Recent Regulatory Issues
9th - 10th July 2015 (Hong Kong)

Understanding Islamic Contracts: Structuring & Legal Issues
17th - 19th August 2015 (Dubai)

Advanced Sukuk & Islamic Securitization
24th - 26th August 2015 (Istanbul)

Undertaking Effective Litigation & Recovery in Islamic Finance Facilities
7th - 8th September 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Sharia’a Compliance & Audit for Islamic Banks
10th - 11th September 2015 (Dubai)

Islamic Finance Qualification
5th - 7th October 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Funds Transfer Pricing
5th - 7th October 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

Trading Book Market Risk Management for Financial Institutions
8th - 9th October 2015 (Kuala Lumpur)

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